Seems everyone with a web page has thoughts on Windows 10 based on just a carefully planned demo from Microsoft. Many of the comments have taken Microsoft’s statements at face value without any critical eye. We won’t go into detail, we have MS Office to deal with, but here’s some random thoughts anyway.
Windows 10 won’t really be ‘free’ … only the most naïve computer user would think that. Sure, there’ll be a basic Windows update available at no cost but there’s bound to be ‘extras’ (if not really ‘essentials’) that will have to be paid for. The ‘free’ offer is only available for the first year, an obvious ploy to rush people into making the switch. In the short term, it gives Microsoft a lot of free publicity that Windows 10 would not get otherwise.
Most likely the payment will be in the form of an annual subscription/rental payment since that’s the model Microsoft and its accountants much prefer.
Just like with Office subscription/rental, a Windows annual payment will make it harder for customers to move away from Windows and harder for a rival to get into the market.
Also quite possible is a Windows subscription/rental package that makes it more enticing for people to get more Windows based tablets and phones. Microsoft needs something to get people away from Apple/Android devices and the quality of their operating system alone hasn’t been enough to do that.
There’s also the very real chance of a combined Windows and Office subscription/rental package.
Will people buy it?
They may move to Windows 10 in droves for their PC and laptops. The real prize for Microsoft is to get more than their current tiny foothold in the market for smartphones and tablets. A combination of ‘real’ Office, decent hardware and Windows subscription/rental plans may be enough to do it.
Windows 10 has no release date .. most likely the second half of 2015.
The Hololens certainly looks interesting though how well this ‘version 1.0’ hardware will work in reality, only the future will tell. Farhad Manjoo has a grain of salt review after a brief but limited hands-on experience.
Finally, keep in mind that there’s nothing wrong with Windows 8.1. It has a bad reputation, mostly because of the arrogant effort to ram the full screen Start Menu and lame Modern/Metro apps down our throats. If you skip the big Start Menu and ignore the Modern apps then Windows 8 is a nice, stable operating system with many worthwhile features. Windows 8.1 for Microsoft Office users has a chapter devoted to pushing aside the unloved part of Windows and leaving the familiar.
